Just Stop for a Moment
by Logar3
Summary: What if Quirks never appeared? What if instead, there was Magic? Hero's and Villains still exist, but this time around, everyone has a different type of power, Izuku Midoriya included. [Semi-D&D/MHA crossover, but you don't need much D&D knowledge]
1. The Doctors Visit that changed his Life

It started around 2 centuries ago.

No-one knows what started it. No-one knows why people were born with their powers. The first 30 years that people started manifesting these new abilities were filled with fear and study, as society tried to figure out what had changed.

It started with a boy in Australia named Nathan Parker. He was 4 years old, playing around with his older brother when he tripped and started to fall off the side of their back deck, and on instinct threw his hands out in front of him. There was a small flash of blue light, and Nathan started floating down to the ground like a feather.

A video had been taken by Nathan's father, and after it spread, most people accused the family of faking the video, using special effects, etc. But there was a small group of people who took an interest in Nathan. The Parker's were approached by a small government science team, who asked to run some tests on Nathan.

They were approved, and a few weeks later, Nathan was confirmed to be able to slow his descent at least once a day. A few months later, a 4-year-old girl seemed to sprout an ability, and after the same team of scientists were able to get in contact with that family, and prove that the girl was able to manipulate a small amount of water telekinetically, the team of scientists were given a large grant to identify the cause.

The team eventually grew into an entire division of the government, as more and more discoveries were made. No-one knew who coined the term, other than the fact that they were a massive D&D nerd, but soon it became apparent that more and more people were being born with an "Innate Spell".

It was titled as such because of someone realising how the abilities shown were extremely similar to the spells available to the players in Dungeons and Dragons, a Table-top RPG. Incidentally, the company that made the game, Wizards of the Coast, started seeing a rise in sales of the game, as the world turned its full attention to the powers and abilities of the game.

Soon it became apparent that the new abilities people were getting didn't fit in with one specific rule. Some people were born with powers similar to _cantrips_, such as light, or Eldritch Blast. While others were getting abilities that were similar to some of the most powerful spells in the game, demonstrated when a 6-year-old boy reincarnated his dog. It had died a dachshund but came back to life a german shepherd.

As more and more people started to be born with these "Innate Spells", people started to use their new powers for their own purpose. And to meet these evildoers, came brave souls willing to fight for the safety of others.

The first widely known hero that wasn't arrested on sight was a Hero known by the name **[Multi]**. He was born with the Innate Spell Prismatic Spray, a versatile ability with 8 possible effects, making it hard for villains to fight against him.

But he was just the first.

Many more heroes started to pop up after Multi. The police force tried to keep up, but quickly fell behind as the era of Heroes and Villains began. Villains increased in number as well, and the spell list for D&D quickly became a must-have for doctors, teachers, and police officers, as much as that weirded people out for a while.

The abilities seemed to follow at least one pattern though. The "School of magic" (AKA the different types of spells) seemed hereditary. So two parents that both had Innate Spells that were the School of Evocation, were likely to have a child that would get an Evocation spell. That's was the idea at least. There were a few outliers, parents of one school having children that followed another school. It wasn't common, but it wasn't exactly rare.

Another thing people noticed, was that even about 200 years after the first Spellcaster, There were a few spells that no-one had, and there was a small list of people who were unique in their Innate Spell. One of the most well known Unique Casters is recovery girl, Who is the only recorded person to date to wield an ability similar to "Power Word: Heal".

The list goes on for a few more spells. There is one spell that everyone agrees would be too dangerous for anyone to wield, no matter their morals; Wish. Currently, not a single person has wielded wish, but it, along with spells like Power Word: kill, which currently has around 43 users, and Time Stop, which has 0 recorded users, Wish is on a special watchlist. Anyone with any of these Innate Spells immediately watched over by the government, and every government on the planet is notified of the User's existence.

This is just how the world is.

* * *

Izuku Midoriya LOVED the concept of a Hero.

Someone who bravely used their power to defend people from bad guys. The kind of person that can bring hope and light into someone's life, just by being there. And there was no Hero that did this better than the Symbol of Peace, All Might.

Izuku had loved All Might since he was able to comprehend who he was. All Might gave Izuku this feeling of safety, just by looking at him. He would have assumed that All Might had Calm Emotions if it wasn't for the overwhelming physical strength that he possessed, breaking though most peoples _magical_ barriers with ease.

In Truth, no-one knew All Mights Innate Spell, no-one even knew the man's real name. But he was still the Symbol of Peace, he still brought hope and joy to the world.

That's Why Izuku loved him. That's why he was currently sitting in front of a doctor, holding the spell list, hoping to get something like Tenser's Transformation at the strength of 9th level, so he could be as strong as All Might, or even something else powerful like chain lightning, perhaps.

The doctor did all kinds of tests with him. Checking to see what Izuku's power would be. Izuku was bored. He had been with the doctor for about 3 hours now, and they still hadn't been able to figure out what Izuku's power would be. So Izuku got up, and walked to the bookshelf, confused as no-one said a word about it, not even his mum asking what he was doing.

He turned around and saw that the Doctor and His mum were both sitting in the exact same position they had been a few seconds ago, looking at where Izuku used to be, as still as statues. In fact, everything had stopped. There was a bird mid-flight outside of the window that was frozen in mid-air, and Izuku couldn't actually hear anything. It was pure silence.

Suddenly, The noise crashed back into existence, gasps escaping from the 2 adults mouths as they now saw Izuku over near the window, holding a book. "Izuku sweety? What just happened?" She turned to the doctor. "Do you think he could have teleport?"

The doctor shook his head. 'We already did the tests for that, and Izuku didn't show any of the signs most teleportation users show. Izuku, could you come back and explain what happened to you for us?" Izuku nodded and walked back to the chair.

"Well, I got up to go grab a book 'cause I was bored, and when I looked back, you guys were frozen, everything was frozen, and it was really quiet, no noise at all, except mine. Is that good enough for you?" The doctor's eyes widened as Izuku explained his ability, and he flipped through the pages until he reached a page with yellow paper and an official stamp.

He pointed to the description for _Time Stop_. Izuku read through it. "Izuku, is this kind of what it felt like?" the doctor seemed to almost panic at this, looking at Inko quickly before returning attention to Izuku. Izuku just nodded, that fit exactly with his experience.

"Mrs Midoriya, it is my honour to tell you that your son seems to be the first person ever to be born with _Time Stop_ as their Innate Spell". Inko paled at this. Everyone knew that people with unique spells were on a watchlist, just in case more showed up, but for spells that had no users, they were treated as if they were a delicate vase by society, not allowed to be broken, lest they become villains.

"I must inform you that I am required by law to notify the Innate Spell Research Division of your son's abilities-" he turned to Izuku. "- I need you to promise me you won't use your power until I've called your mum with the okay, alright? You could get in trouble for using it unregistered, and people who get in trouble can't be heroes like I know you want to".

Izuku nearly teared up at this. "Do you think I can become a hero with _Time Stop_ sir?" The doctor gave him a weird look. He walked over to Izuku, kneeled down to be level with the boy, and said; "Kid, Almost no villain's have the ability to fight back against your power. You could become one of the greatest heroes to ever exist".

And now Izuku was crying. He could be someone who saved everyone, like All Might. He could fight bad guys to protect the people who needed protection. He could practise with his power, polishing it.

He could be a Hero.

* * *

"So Izu, what's your power?"

Katsuki was one of Izuku oldest friends. They had known each other from birth. Their mums were old high-school friends. Katsuki was a little older than Izuku, by about 2 months, so he had already gotten his Innate Spell, and **BOY** was it a hero's power.

8th Level fireball.

Katsuki Bakugou was born with an 8th level Fireball. He was probably the current strongest kid in the entire school, completely banned from using it outside of specified training areas. Katsuki could command the size of the blast, sure, but he had an aggressive personality, so the teachers didn't really trust him all that much.

"Izu? What power did you get, dumbass? Can you hear me?" Izuku was startled from this thought by Katuski getting up really close and tapping on his head. Izuku giggled a bit before shaking his head. "Don't worry Kachaan! I will show you when the teachers say I can, otherwise, I'll just waste it and won't be able to use it for the rest of the day!" Katsuki grumbled, pouting, but accepted the response.

When class started the teacher made the announcement that Izuku had gotten his Innate Spell. Izuku was then instructed to walk up to the front of the class to demonstrate his ability. Even the teacher was watching with apprehension as Izuku reached the front of the class, he hadn't been told Izuku's spell yet.

"Hi everyone! I went to the doctor yesterday and found out what my Innate Spell is! It's called-" As he took a pause, he thought about everything stopping, and it did. Everyone froze, and Izuku quickly got to work, dragging Kachaan and his chair to the front of the classroom. As the time limit grew near, Izuku could hear a cracking that grew louder and louder until everything started moving again with a crash. "- _TIME STOP_!"

Katsuki was swearing about being teleported, the class was freaking out that Katsuki just sort of appeared, and the teacher was watching in shock. Time Stop had never been wielded before, Izuku was truly unique. "Izuku! That's so freaking cool!," ''Yea! Way to go Midoriya!," "You got such a cool power!" The cheers from his classmates were nice, but Izuku looked over to Katsuki, who had gone silent, and was staring at Izuku with what others would think looked like anger, But Izuku could see the awe and pride in Katsuki's eyes.

Izuku grinned and answered all of the student's questions, before sitting down for class. He had to answer questions every now and then, but the school day went fairly quickly. Katsuki hung around him at break time, threatening anyone who bugged him about his Innate Spell with his fireballs.

Eventually, school ended, and Izuku and Katsuki started their walk home. Izuku was trying to do _Time Stop_ again, but he could feel it slipping through his fingers every time he reached for it. He knew how it worked. The more you trained it, the easier it would be to grab it over and over again, so that's what Izuku would do. He would push himself until he was able to use his ability as much as he needs to, to be able to help people.

Katsuki was talking about something he had blown up earlier during the day, while Izuku sort-of listened to him, practising with his spell. Eventually, the turn off for Katsuki came, and they had to separate. "Hey Izuku, you got a pretty cool power, but I'll still be the #1 hero, got it?" Katsuki turned as he talked, walking away from Izuku.

He chuckled, laughing at Katsuki's antics. He finished his walk home and saw a weird car in the driveway, a completely black SUV, with the letters ISRD, written on the side. Izuku knew what the letters meant, but why on earth was the _Innate Spell Research Division _at his house?

* * *

He walked inside to see two people in suits talking with his mum.

Izuku cleared his throat and grinned at them. "Hi, mum! I'm back, why is the ISRD here?" Izuku was honestly confused. Did everyone get a personal visit after they got their spell? Surely not, right?

"Oh welcome back sweety! These nice agents were just here to talk about your new power! Apparently, since your the only person to have ever had it before, the ISRD wants to make sure its safe for you to use, and eventually train!" Izuku's face lit up. These people wanted to help him get better with _Time Stop_?

"That's amazing! Can we start straight away? I wanna be a hero, and they can use their powers a lot! I can still only use it around 1 time every day…" One of the Agents nodded at this and seemed to tick a box.

"Good Afternoon Mr Midoriya, my name is Alexander Chronus, and I am the ISRD Agent that has been assigned to you. My Innate Spell, _Slow_, is probably the closest we can get to training you accurately". Alexander then stood up and nodded to the other Agent, who vanished in a puff of silver smoke, before the Van turning on could be heard.

"Your mother has given the ISRD authorisation to have me as a permanent resident of this household, to oversee your training and make sure there are no accidents with your Powers. Do not worry about me, I will attempt to stay out of the way as much as necessary." Izuku looked at his mum, confused, and she nodded, pointing to the contract she had signed. "I assure you this is only for your safety Mr Midoriya. This is just our standard procedure. You should have seen how much security they put on Recovery Girl as a child".

"Don't worry about it Izuku, Alexander is just here to make sure that your safe". Inko flashed him a smile, and he found himself calmed by her. He nodded, before heading to the spare room at the back of the house. "Well then Mr Chronus sir, we should start setting up your room!" Alexander laughed, before following Izuku.

[-]

"So young man, you said you wanted to be a hero?"

They had been working, setting up Alexander's new bedroom for about 2 hours now, and they were almost finished. Alexander didn't take up a lot of space, only needing a bed and a closet, as he stated he: 'wasn't very materialistic' which he explained meant he didn't need a lot of belongings to feel happy, when Izuku asked.

"Yes, sir! I want to be a hero like All Might, strong enough to save everyone!" Alexander laughed, nodding. He finished making the bed before he turned to Izuku. "Well then Izuku, how about we start teaching you some martial arts? I'm proficient in quite a few different ones you can learn, and if we start now, by the time you get to Hero school, you will be practically unstoppable!"

Izuku swung his head over to face Alexander. "YES, SIR! YES PLEASE! I'll be the best hero to ever exist!" He did a few punches in front of him, furrowing his brow in concentration. Alexander laughed at the display as the two of them walked out into the lounge room, where Inko was making dinner.

"MUM! Mr Chronus is gonna teach me his Secret Agent Martial Arts!" Alexander face-palmed a bit, chuckling. He shook his head and explained Izuku's statement. "First of all: I'm not a secret agent. I'm a very public agent, I just had a rough childhood and teen years. Second of all: your mother needs to say you can do it".

Inko laughed as well, nodding towards Alexander. "Well, I'm fine with Izuku learning from you Mr Chronus, but he's only just turned 4 years old. Maybe you could just start with his fitness before you start working on fighting?" Alexander nodded, thinking to himself.

"Alright, Izuku, I will start writing up a plan for your training to start, we're gonna make a Hero out of you!" Izuku was cheering, running around the house when he suddenly vanished, Inko and Alexander hearing his door closing.

Inko shook her head, giggling at his antics. "Mr Chronus, I know you're only here because it's your job, but please take good care of Izuku during his training. He might have an incredible ability, but he's still my baby". Alexander nodded, bowing slightly, before flashing a smile.

"Of course Ms Midoriya, I promise to look after your son"

* * *

Izuku was feeling very proud of himself

He had been training with Alexander for most of his life. Currently a 14-year-old, he had spent the last 11 years under the watchful eye of Mr Chronus. He had practised with _Time Stop_ every day until he could do it around 4 times a day, maybe 5 if he pushed himself.

After showing Katsuki his power, the boy had proclaimed Izuku as his rival, and they had entered into a weird stage of their friendship. Katsuki was loud, brash, and aggressive, but he treated Izuku like a human being, instead of an '_extra'_ as he called their classmates.

Eventually, Alexander had relented to Izuku's pestering and allowed only Katsuki to train with them. They spent their afternoons practising with their powers and moulding their bodies to be fit for a hero. They were the top of their class, not just in power, but in academics. They were consistently in the top 3 in all of their classes.

The boys had learnt a myriad of martial arts and were pretty respectable belts in all of them. Izuku had been the first to reach a black belt, obtaining it in Capoeira. Alongside Capoeira, they also learnt kickboxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, and more. While Izuku may be a black belt in Capoeira, Katsuki was fierce when it comes to Muay Thai, his flexibility and strength placing him in the highest divisions.

The 2 boys were currently in the last term of their second last year of middle school, and they had been given the day off by Alexander. Katsuki planned on spending it with some of his followers, to get them off his back, and Izuku planned to go home and play video games.

They separated, Katsuki flipping him off as he left, and Izuku turned down an underpass, laughing at his antics. He was still giggling when he heard the sewerage grate hit the roof of the underpass. Izuku whipped around to face the noise and saw a large green mass of sludge, filled with the imprint of what looks like skulls.

"Hahaha! Look at you! What a great new puppet!" As the sludge moved towards Izuku, He activated _Time Stop_ with a yelp, before spending his first 20 seconds making a plan. He knew what this thing was. This was an Oblex. It was most likely a person that had been True Polymorphed.

He moved out of the tunnel, but still in sight of the Oblex, to try and lure it out of the underpass, where it would be easier to capture. He heard the cracking start before the world sprang back to life. "What the fuck!? Get back here you misty stepping fuck!" Izuku almost wanted to laugh at that, most people assumed he had some sort of teleportation at first, but soon found out differently.

Izuku stood at the edge of the underpass, feeling like a matador as he taunted the Oblex. "Oh wow! The big bad ooze can't even catch a fucking middle schooler!" Okay, the swearing was a bit overboard, but his nerves were on end, and he had spent a very long time around Katsuki.

As the Oblex reached the open street, Izuku ran and grabbed a seal-able tub he saw out in front of a shop. The owner seemed to be about to yell at him when he saw the Oblex and scurried off. As soon as he grabbed it he started running towards the Oblex, before stopping time again.

He looked around quickly to see if there was anyone else he needed to get out of the way first, and was confused when he saw someone halfway through climbing out of the sewer. He shrugged and got to work putting the Oblex into the tub, finishing sealing the box just as the cracking started.

"What the fuck just happened you little shit! I'll fucking kill you!" The Oblex seemed mad, so Izuku put the tub down and sat on the lid, sealing it in. He looked back over to the figure crawling out of the sewer and did a double-take. WAS THAT…

"ALL MIGHT!?"

* * *

Toshinori was still reeling from what he had just seen.

One second, he was preparing himself to save the boy from the monster as he climbed back onto the street level, and the next, the boy was sitting on top of a tub, the slime creature trapped inside. '_What kind of spell lets you do that? Slow, maybe?'_

The kid was looking over at him with awe before he yelled out; "ALL MIGHT?!" Toshinori grinned a little more. Even with years as the #1 hero in his belt, he still loved the feeling he got when he saw someone with that look in their eyes, like just by him being there everything was good.

It was the look he had promised his predecessor he would give people, and it made him feel good to know he was keeping his promise to her. He did his signature laugh as he reached the boy. "**HAHAHA! YES! IT IS I! ALL MIGHT!**"

The kid looked like he was gonna faint. Toshinori put his hand on the kids back to hold him up, and he yelped. "All Might sir! I'm sorry for using my spell in public! It's just that, this guy is an Oblex, he wanted to absorb me and control a copy of me!" Toshinori shuddered. He hadn't been able to identify it from sight, but every Pro Hero knew what an Oblex was, especially after the big American case that exposed an Oblex controlling clones of several high-level politicians.

"**ITS ALL RIGHT YOUNG MAN! OR SHOULD I SAY… It's ALL MIGHT!**" the kid chuckled a bit, and Toshinori laughed with him, before standing the boy up and grabbing the tub. "**SAY, KID, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?**" The kid looked at All Might like he had just made his day, and beamed, responding.

"It's Midoriya Izuku, Mr All Might sir! I'm your biggest fan!" Toshinori laughed inwardly, he had kinda got the feeling the kid was a massive fanboy, but it's rude to say that out loud. "**MR MIDORIYA, ARE YOU PLANNING ON BECOMING A HERO?**" He already sort of knew the answer, he had a gut feeling.

"Yes, sir! I'm gonna be the best Hero in the world! After you of course…" the last bit was said in an apologetic tone, and Toshinori laughed. "**SO WHAT'S YOUR INNATE SPELL MIDORIYA? YOUR QUITE FAST, SLOW MAYBE? OR EVEN HASTE?**" Those 2 made the most sense for Toshinori, and he choked a bit at the kid's response.

"Nope! I've got _Time Stop!_" Toshinori looked the kid once over. A fantastic Innate Spell, and a chiselled body for a middle schooler, if the taunting was to be believed. "**WOW MIDORIYA, THAT'S QUITE THE SPELL, YOUR A UNIQUE CASTER AREN'T YOU?**"

Izuku nodded and Toshinori debated with himself for a moment before coming to a decision. He was running out of time and needed to get away, but he wanted to meet Izuku Midoriya again. "**I HAVE TO GO YOUNG MAN, BUT HERE-**" he handed Izuku a card emblazoned with a phone number. "**\- CALL THIS TOMORROW SO I CAN SET UP A MEETING WITH YOU, I WANT TO TALK WITH YOU FURTHER, YOU HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO BE AND EXCELLENT HERO!**"

He jumped away, turning back to watch the boy holding the card in his hands, jumping up and down, before he suddenly just vanished, appearing a good 100m down the road.

'The kid might be a good option, will have to look into him further…'


	2. One for All

"MUM! ALEX!"

He knew they wouldn't hear him, as Time was currently frozen, but he opened the door and sat down in front of her, bouncing in excitement. He ran towards the house, yelling out in excitement. HE HAD JUST MET ALL MIGHT. How could he not be excited?! He had just reached the living room, where Inko and Alex were sitting when the cracking that indicated his spell was ending started before the loud crash and time started flowing normally again.

Inko let out a small shout as Izuku materialised in front of her, Alex looking shocked for a moment before he started laughing. "GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TODAY!" Inko was still calming herself, so Alex asked the question.

"What happened Izuku?" Izuku held up the card proudly, but he was vibrating so much Alex couldn't read it properly. Alex cast |Slow|, and the vibrations slowed down enough for Inko and him to read it. "Holy Shit, well done Izuku. How exactly did you catch the attention of All Might?" Izuku beamed even harder, somehow.

"I got attacked by a villain!" Inko gasped and pulled Izuku forward slightly with her |Mage Hand|, pulling him into a super tight hug. "Are you OK? Are you hurt? What happened!?" Izuku suddenly vanished from Inko grasp, appearing back in his seat.

"Well, that's me done for the day…" He fiddled with the card in his hand, and Alex laughed inwardly. He hadn't even realised that had taken it from his hands. "Don't worry mum, I fought the villain, and I beat it! It was a guy that had been polymorphed into an Oblex, but I trapped it in a plastic tub and handed him to All Might, who had seen me fight it."

Inko nodded, a little less worried. She knew |_Time Stop|_ was very powerful, but she was a mother, even if Izuku had All Might's powers she would worry. Izuku continued his explanation. "He wanted to know what my Innate Spell was, so I told him, that's okay, right?" he looked over to Alex, who nodded. "Cool. Then he handed me his card and said: "CALL THIS TOMORROW SO I CAN SET UP A MEETING WITH YOU, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU FURTHER, YOU HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO BE A GREAT HERO!"

Inko gasped at this. Grabbing the card with her |Mage Hand|, she read over the card for herself, looking worried, proud, and many other emotions. "And this isn't a joke Izuku? This isn't a prank to get me to take you to another All Might convention or something like that?" Alex started laughing, Izuku joining him.

"No mum, All Might actually wants to talk with me more! It's probably just because of _|Time Stop|_, but it's still super cool!" He was jumping around the room muttering about how cool All Might was at a mile a minute, and Inko couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Well if this isn't some elaborate plan to go to a convention, I guess we should give All Might a call tomorrow!" She paused for a moment. "But I want to be there when you call him, and I want the phone to be on speaker mode". Izuku nodded. At this point, he would agree to any of her conditions, he was going to be meeting All Might in person, and he had ASKED him to meet him! Not the other way around!

Now, Inko knew her son was going to be an excellent hero, It was all Alex and the other ISRD people, as long as most of the people in Izuku's life kept telling her, but if the #1 Hero had taken an interest in him, she started to feel a little guilty.

Had she underestimated her son? She tried to be supportive, of course, she was his mother, but for that same reason, she had tried to keep him safe, and now she was wondering if she maybe went a bit too far. He had already taken out a villain, should she just accept this? Izuku was definitely powerful, so should she just trust him to be safe?

Maybe it was time to let him go his own way a bit.

* * *

Izuku had never been up so early before.

Usually, Alex had to drag Izuku out of bed at any early hours to get him to do some training. Izuku was definitely not a morning person. Today seemed different though. It was 5:30 in the morning, 15 minutes before their training started, and about 10 minutes before Katsuki would arrive, and Izuku was up and making coffee for everyone.

"Good morning Alex! I woke up really early today, but I feel great! Can't wait for our training!" Izuku flashed him a smile, but Alex immediately sensed something was off. He had been the focal point of many of Izuku's smiles, and this one didn't have the same shine as the rest did. He examined Izuku further.

Bags under his eyes. Slouched position. Shaking the way people do after ~4 cups of coffee. Izuku had obviously not slept last night, and that would make any training more harmful than helpful. "Izuku, you are kicked out of this training session".

"I know getting a personal invite from your favourite hero for a meeting is exciting, but you need to sleep. So that's what you're going to do. Go to bed".

Izuku looked like he was going to argue, but Alex cut him off. "No, no arguing. Go to bed". Izuku sighed but followed his directions. When Katsuki arrived, Alex went to check on Izuku again and found him out cold.

"Goddamnit Izuku. Slowpoke, Why is he still fucking sleeping?" Alex frowned a little bit at Katsuki's nickname for him. He had known the boy for over a decade now, and Katsuki still didn't have the common sense to call him by his proper name. Oh well, he could just push him harder during training.

"Well Katsuki, Izuku pulled an all-nighter, so I sent him to bed". Katsuki huffed, crossing his arms, before turning around and walking out the front door, finishing his stretches. "What's got the damn nerd so nervous?" He simply shrugged when Alex gave him a curious look. "What? The nerd only loses sleep when he's super nervous about dumb stuff".

Alex sighed. "Izuku was attacked by an Oblex yesterday, but he was able to contain it before it could hurt him or anyone else. He was then greeted by All Might, who had been chasing the Oblex, and All Might wants to meet him personally". He held back his amusement at Katsuki's rage covered face. "Izuku and Inko are going to call him today".

"Tch, whatever, once I get out into UA, All Might will realise that he chose the wrong kid to take notice of. I'm gonna be number one, even above sleeping beauty there". Alex nodded, staying silent. Unless you wanted an argument, you didn't attempt to correct Katsuki when he said things like that.

He started Katsuki on his exercises, and around 3 hours later, Katsuki left to go help his mum with something. Alex waved him off, before turning and heading back to the house. He checked on Izuku again, he was still sleeping, before waking Inko up. She had asked him to wake her up, as she was heading out early to get to an early class.

She was finishing her studies to become a lawyer. She had gone through most of the classes before she had fallen pregnant with Izuku and decided to put it on hold. Now though, she had realised that while the ISRD was paying for their current lifestyle, due to the fact that they were basically studying her son, that support would end once he turned 18. It was probably good to have a job already, or at least lined up when that happened.

She got ready while Alex cooked a small breakfast for her. For almost as long as Izuku had, Inko had joined in on their training, albeit to a lesser extent. Alex had proved to be an exceptional personal trainer. She wasn't exactly unfit at the start of the training, but she wasn't fit either. Now though, she had a reputation around the university campus as the _"Buff MILF"_. She wasn't sure if she liked the nickname.

Inko left for her classes, and Alex found ways to amuse himself until Izuku woke up at around 2:30 pm. They trained until Inko got back from class, and then Izuku pulled out his phone, plugging the phone number on the card in.

He took a deep breath and hit call. And then it hit him.

HE WAS CALLING ALL MIGHT.

Inko had to catch him as he almost fell off the stool at the kitchen bench.

* * *

Toshinori had been '_patiently' _waiting for Izuku's phone call all day.

He was glad that he hadn't made a rash decision and offered Izuku OFA then and there. It was an important secret and he wanted to know the boy better(and make sure he has parental permission), not just be shocked by his powerful spell. He had already burned through his 4 hours for the day, which was stupid of him, he should have spread it out more.

He was now sitting in his apartment, watching TV as he waited for his potential successor to call him. He was getting bored and was about to be forced to resort to _reality TV_ of all things when his phone finally started ringing.

He waited for a few rings just so he didn't seem like he was waiting for the call, he had the image of a busy pro hero to uphold after all, before picking it up. **"HELLO THERE YOUNG MIDORIYA! IT'S GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU!"** He heard someone gasp, and his curiosity spiked. **"AM I BY ANY CHANCE ON SPEAKER?"**

He heard a female voice from the other side. "Izuku! It's actually All Might! Even with your promise I still thought this was some elaborate prank… mutter mutter mutter-" Toshinori laughed. **"YES! I AM ALL MIGHT! I WISH TO SET UP A MEETING WITH YOUNG IZUKU ABOUT A POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITY! WHEN IS A SUITABLE DAY FOR YOU TO COME DOWN TO MY OFFICE?"** There was muffled talking from the other side of the line, which sounded a bit like a debate before Izuku spoke up.

"All Might, sir? My mum says we can probably come down in about 2 days, is that alright with you?" Toshinori looked at his calendar, it was clear for the next 3 months. But Izuku didn't need to know that.

**"****OF COURSE! I CAN MAKE THAT WORK! I'LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU PROPERLY YOUNG IZUKU, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU AS WELL…"** he left the open question of his mothers name for them to answer.

"Inko, Mr All Might, my name is Inko Midoriya, we will see you in 2 days". All Might had to hold in laughter at how strained that sounded, she was probably holding back from gushing, just like her son had been yesterday. "We are looking forward to this meeting as well, Have a good rest of your day, All Might".

And then she hung up. All Might was suddenly hit with the feeling of boredom again, so he flicked through some of the TV shows on his streaming service. It was a fairly old one called Netflix, some people even claimed it was the first of its kind. It had a bunch of old classics on it, like Avengers Endgame, Ready Player One and other movies, but what Toshinori was looking for was a new TV show to get lost in.

He found one from around the year 2002, named after a type of bug. He shrugged and put it on, quickly finding himself wrapped up in the theme song and the pilot for the show. He binged the rest of the season, reaching the season finale before he realised. There was no more. Wait. **There was no more?!**

He quickly ran to his computer and looked up the show, and saw that there was a movie that was meant to finish off the story. sprinting (as fast as his injury allowed him to) back to the couch, he found said movie and put it on. He thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but by the time it ended all Toshinori could feel was despair. It had been nearly 200 years since the show first aired, and **no-one** thought it would be a good idea to restart it?! A tragedy!

This was not shiny at all.

* * *

The 2 days went by pretty quickly.

Izuku was **HYPED** for his meeting with All Might. Apparently, One of Katsuki's lackeys had pried the info out of him, so the entire school was abuzz with the rumour that All Might wanted to meet him. Izuku was happy to confirm it. He knew it was arrogant. He knew it was self-serving. But damnit, All Might wanted to meet him! How cool was that!

But after the school day ended, Izuku sprinted back home, using TIme Stop along the way to get home _quicker_ (sort of). He, in total, used 3 of his daily charges before he reached home, the 3rd one ending right as he reached the front door.

He bolted inside and quickly took off his Aldera middle school uniform. He changed into his least fan-boy looking clothes, a White shirt with '_T-shirt'_ written on the front, and some black trackies. He put his red sneaker back on and started cleaning. His mum wasn't going to be back for at least an hour, so he kept himself busy by doing some housework.

He cleaned as much as he could before he heard his mum's car pulling into the driveway. He could FEEL the excitement building up, and he had to force himself to settle down and not just jump into the car now. Inko walked through the door, saw Izuku's poorly contained excitement, and laughed. "Relax sweety, I'll only be a minute, then we can go see All Might".

Izuku started beaming, waiting patiently for his mum to get ready. A few minutes later, she had grabbed everything she needed and had walked back into the lounge room. "Alright then Izuku, let's go meet All Might". She tried to cover it, but Izuku could still hear the amazement in her voice when she said that. He couldn't fault her for it.

They got into her car and drove towards the location All Might had sent them. It took around 45 minutes in total. Izuku was bouncing around the entire time, super excited. He wondered what All Might wanted to talk to him about. All Might, to his knowledge, didn't just meet with anyone. You had to be important, or rich, or famous.

They arrived at a small building and parked nearby. They walked to the door and were greeted by a tall blonde man. Not THE tall blonde man though, this one was a twig, dressed in massively oversized clothing. "Ah, good afternoon! You must be the Midoriya's. My name is Toshinori Yagi, please, come in".

They greeted Toshinori and walked inside, eventually coming to a small room with a lounge set-up. Toshinori went and sat at the desk. "Now Mr Midoriya, Ms Midoriya, I'm sure you're wondering why All Might invited you to this place". Izuku and Inko both nodded, though Izuku's was more frantic.

"He brought you here because he wanted to make you an offer, one he thinks you will accept, but I have to ask first". He shuffled a bit in his chair, pulling out some paper from the drawers of the desk. "Why do you want to be a Hero?" Izuku was a little jarred by the question but answered after Inko nudged him a little with her elbow.

"Well sir, I want to be a hero so I can help people". Toshinori seemed thrilled at this answer, as he started grinning widely, nodding as Izuku talked. "The universe blessed me with this power, and there is nothing else that I want to do then use it for the good of others".

Toshinori continued to smile as he spoke up. "Will you keep everything you see in this meeting a secret? That means not anyone, not even your friends, for now".

Izuku was confused but agreed to the terms anyway. All Might wanted to offer him something? Training maybe? All Might wasn't really one for apprentices or sidekicks, his last team-up being over 5 years ago. Inko responded to him. "Of course sir, nothing leaves this room".

Toshinori stood up and walked in front of the desk before a bright light appeared, covering his hand. As the light started, Izuku gasped. Toshinori had rapidly inflated, and now stood tall as someone he recognised…

"_**ALL MIGHT!?"**_

* * *

All Might laughed, it had been a while since he was able to see someone's first reaction to his inflation.

**"****YES! I, TOSHINORI YAGI, AM ALL MIGHT!"** he looked over to the 2 Midoriya's and laughed again. Inko was looking shocked and confused, which was the expected result, but Izuku had a look of pure, unadulterated… _fanboy_.

**"****OH MY GOD, YOUR ALL MIGHT!"** Izuku grabbed Inko by the shoulders and started to shake her. **"MUM IT'S ALL MIGHT! HE WAS SMALL AND NOW HE'S BIG!"** Izuku started to mumble, and Toshinori was actually a little worried about him now. His speaking had devolved slightly as it picked up speed.

But then, in an instant, Izuku had shifted positions and seemed much calmer. Toshinori assumed he had just popped time stop, and laughed inwardly at using it just to calm down. Toshinori shut off the light in his hand and held up his now armoured hand.

Izuku noticed the hand, staring at it intently, trying to figure out All Might's Innate Spell based off of its appearance, but All Might started to talk. "Young Midoriya, my name is Toshinori Yagi, but you know me as All Might. I am here today to offer you the opportunity to be my successor, the next symbol of peace".

At this, Inko fainted, but at least she didn't hit the floor. Almost as soon as she had fainted, she disappeared from her chair, and reappeared on the floor, feet raised against the chair he had been sitting in. "Sorry, All Might! She used to faint a lot, so I had to get my first aid training to make sure she was always safe, helps when I can change a person's position in an instant".

All Might nodded, once more marvelling at Izuku's power. The ability to stop time for everyone but himself… it was unprecedented. '_In all honesty, Young Midoriya could probably fight me, and have a good chance at winning_', Toshinori thought. Not that he would tell the boy that.

They waited for Inko to wake up, explained what had happened to her, and All Might started his speech again. "As I said before, I wish for Young Midoriya here to inherit my power and become the symbol of peace after I retire" Both of the Midoriya's looked at him like he was crazy before Izuku started mumbling.

"How-could-I-inherit-his-power-what-does-he-mean-by-that-if-he-can-give-me-his-spell-this-could-change-the-world-is-that-why-he-doesn't-tell-anyone-his-spell-oh-my-god-All-Might-wants-to-give-me-his-power…"

All Might snapped his fingers, and a small shockwave spread throughout the room, shocking Izuku out of his mumble episode. "Mr and Ms Midoriya, please allow me to tell you a story…"

"My Power isn't a spell".

Izuku looked at him for a second, a confused look plastered on his face. "Or at least, not just a spell. It is the crystallization of power, passed down from one person to the next. One person improves the power, then hands it off to the next person. This is how my abilities function at a basic level".

Izuku was nodding as All Might talked, mimicking writing something down. Toshinori would have to ask later. "You see this?' He held up the metal gauntlets that covered his arms, the shiny golden metal reaching his elbows. "This is my power. It is called _**One for All|**_, and this is how it manifested for me".

"My master before me wielded a Shield, like that old American hero, and her master wielded a mighty Spear. This is what channels my strength. The combined power of 7 people, that is the secret behind my strength".

"I wish to have you wield this power next, my boy".

Izuku was reeling, and he could see his mum doing the same. The explanation had shocked them to their cores. Inko coughed softly. "Mr All Might sir, I am honoured that you believe my son could take this mantle, but could you let us talk for a bit?" Toshinori nodded, that was a fair request. Inko took Izuku over to the other side of the room and started talking in a low voice.

Toshinori's hopes raised when he saw the smile Izuku flashed his mum, and she nodded slowly. Izuku sprinted up to All Might, grinning ear to ear. "I'll do it, sir! I'll accept |One for All| and be the best hero to ever exist!" All Might's grin somehow grew wider as he prepared to pass OFA on.

The Gauntlet on Toshinori's arm vanished, and All Might plucked a hair from his head. "Your body is already a fairly suitable vessel my young man, so to be granted the power of |One for All|, you only need to do one thing…" Izuku looked at All Might with stars in his eyes, as Toshinori held out the hair to the boy.

"_**EAT THIS**_"

* * *

"_That was really gross_"

Izuku was currently trying to get the taste of All Might's shampoo from out of his mouth. His mum was still laughing her ass off, as she had every right to be. Izuku had just swallowed a strand of All Might's hair! How could she not laugh at that?

They stayed with All Might, who had insisted they called him Toshinori when he was deflated, for the next few hours, using the courtyard out the back of the building to show All Might some of Izuku's capoeira. All Might had been shocked at the fact that Izuku was a black belt, but then, who wasn't? Eventually, Izuku could start to feel something.

"Uh, All Might, I think it's starting to kick in, I can feel… power". All Might nodded as if expecting this. He stepped forward towards the boy and summoned the gauntlets. "Young Midoriya, listen closely. I want you to reach out for that power, grab hold and don't let go. Your weapon should come to you naturally".

Izuku reached for the power he could feel in his chest. It felt similar to when he reached for |Time Stop|, but when he grabbed onto it, it didn't resist him as much as |Time Stop| did. It almost… came to him, as if it was a natural part of him. He grabbed hold, and a brilliant green light flashed throughout the room.

In Izuku's hands were a sword and shield, The sword was about 90cm long, the blade coloured a dark forest green. The shield was a rounded tower shield, mostly black with a bright green stripe going down diagonally. They felt weightless in his hands, almost as if it was an extension of his arms.

"All Might is… is this |One for All|? I feel amazing!" Izuku swung the sword around a few times and did some mock blocks with the shield. "It's like they don't weigh anything at all! OH, I wonder what happens if I do THIS-"

Izuku swung the sword as hard as he could, and his arms disappeared from view for a second. There was a loud crack, a scream, and a rush of wind that nearly tore the room apart, pushing All Might behind his desk. When All Might stood back up, he yelped and ran to Izuku.

The sword and shield fizzled from existence in a shower of green lights, and it was evident why. Izuku's sword arm was currently snapped at a nearly 90-degree angle, and it was obvious that he was trying his best not to cry. "A… a… All… Might…" that was all Izuku was able to get out before All Might heard Inko scream and he rushed them towards the best possible place for him.

UA High school.

* * *

**SMACK**

Izuku never thought he would ever see someone hit the #1 hero and get away with it, but here Recovery Girl was, smacking All Might over the head repeatedly with her syringe shaped walking stick. "Are you an Idiot Toshinori!? Why didn't you bring him here in the first place?! You shouldn't have endangered the boy".

All Might looked down and mumbled what was probably an apology. Izuku wanted to speak up, but a quick look from his mum told him to stay quiet. Recovery Girl ranted for a few more minutes, but eventually stopped, handing Izuku a packet of gummy bears. "Eat up, |Power Word: Heal| may be powerful, but I refuse to let you use it as a crutch".

Izuku bowed to her briefly, before responding. "Of course not Recovery Girl! I will train even harder to make sure I can use my new power! I would never want to impose on you!" He stood back up and saw Recovery Girl chuckling. She looked over to All Might.

"Chose a good one Toshi, please make sure he doesn't kill himself when using |One for All|". All Might nodded before hurriedly walking out of the room. He brought Izuku and Inko back to his car, which was parked out in front of UA.

"Well my young successor, it is time for me to take my leave. Meet me at Dagobah Municipal Beach tomorrow at 6:30 am, we will begin your new training program". Izuku agreed to meet him at the beach, and All might nodded, before hopping into his car and driving away.

Izuku realised that they didn't have a car to get home. It was only about a 15-minute walk, but still. "Hey mum, hop on my back, I'll piggyback you home". Inko thought about it before she climbed up onto his back. He started to walk home, using |Time Stop| as much as he could.

About halfway through the trip, he realised something. He reached for |Time Stop| for the 6th time that day, and found it acting the same way |One for All| had. It was almost as if instead of running away, the spell came to him of its own free will. He grabbed |Time Stop| again and found the world freeze for the 6th time in one day. He nearly stumbled in his excitement.

Did |One for All| make it so he could use |Time Stop| whenever he wants?!


	3. Chapter 3

The trip home (to Inko) happened in the blink of an eye.

One moment, she was standing outside of UA. The next, she was in her house, sitting next to Izuku on the couch as he brought her a glass of milk, holding a sword in his other hand, testing his grip.

He placed the tea down on the table and waved to it with his sword hand before grabbing a drink of his own, and sitting down beside her.

"Izuku, what did you just do?" she asked as she picked up the glass. Izuku just smiled at her as he started popping up around the room in different spots and extravagant poses. Wait... was that a Jojo pose? Inko burst out laughing at the sight.

"Well, my current theory is that |One for All| merged with |Time Stop| and is now allowing me access to it near-constantly, but I'll have to ask All Might next time I see him." Izuku was suddenly holding a notebook as he started to write something down.

Inko took a moment to absorb the information and suddenly went silent as she realised the implications. She looked up to her now extremely powerful son.

"What exactly do you mean Izuku?" Izuku stopped writing and suddenly appeared next to her on the couch.

"Well Mum, I'm basically saying I can use |Time Stop| whenever I want because of |One for All|."

Inko just stared at Izuku in shock. |Time Stop| was extremely powerful when Izuku could cast it 4 times a day. Now he could do it whenever he wants and has super strength and summonable weapons?

She should invest in more tissues and cushions, he was a shoe-in for the hero course at any school, and she knew she was probably going to either cry or faint whenever he (inevitably) did something stupid.

"Oh, ok then. Don't hurt yourself, sweety." Izuku was shocked at the nonchalant response. He thought that would get a bigger reaction. He froze time and looked her in the eyes, before realizing they were slightly glazed over.

She wasn't underwhelmed about his new powers, she was overwhelmed. Why couldn't she just be whelmed? No-one was just whelmed anymore.

He unfroze time and tapped her on the shoulder. She jolted and then looked at him, tears in her eyes. "You're going to be an amazing hero sweety, the best in the world!"

Izuku wrapped her up in a big hug and started crying as well. They stayed like that for a bit, just letting their joy built up from the day's events out.

They didn't even hear Alexander come home.

* * *

"So, Nerd, you wanted to tell me something?"

Izuku nodded at Katsuki. He had asked the boy to come to his house so he could show him his new powers. He wasn't going to explain |One for All| to him, but he was going to show off the cool sword and shield he had now.

They were currently standing in Izuku's back yard, so Izuku could do some showing off, something he picked up from Katsuki.

"Sure did Kachaan! Watch this!" Izuku powered up |One for All|, and the sword and shield materialised in his hands in a small flash of green light.

Izuku swung the sword around with no real power behind it, just getting the feel for it. Even with it as low powered as Izuku could make it, it was leaving a green lightning trail behind it.

The sword vanished from his hands and the energy around the shield seemed to increase as Izuku placed it between Katsuki and himself.

"Kachaan, let loose your biggest explosion at this please, while still staying safe. I need to test it." Izuku rolled his shoulder and crouched down a bit, prepping himself for the hit.

"Tch. Fine, don't blame me when you get thrown through the fence." Katsuki's face twisted into a grin as he laughed, pointing his palms at Izuku, and let off an explosion.

As the smoke died down, his laughter stopped as he saw Izuku still standing in front of him, shield up, feet back a few feet, divets in the ground showed he **had** been pushed back, just not much.

The shield vanished and Katsuki saw Izuku's 'analysis nerd' face and sighed internally, knowing that he had to act quick or he would lose Izuku to the mutter-gods.

"OK Nerd, what the actual fuck were those?" Katsuki was staring at the weapon and shield combo with suspicion and if Izuku was reading his face correctly, a little bit of awe.

"While I can't tell you details Kachaan - Hey, don't look at me like that, I not allowed to - I recently got a really cool but really weird power boost, and these started to appear when I wanted them to."

Katsuki dragged his hand over his face, sighing. "Of fucking course you did. Got any other major bombshells you wanna drop on me, you fucking nerd?"

Izuku beamed at him and Katsuki shuddered internally. _There was more_. "Yep! Because of said power boost, I can use |Time Stop| whenever I want! How cool is that?"

Katsuki was actually, for the first time in his life, stunned by this. He knew what Izuku could do with only 4 times a day, now he could do it whenever? Was there anyone alive that could fight the nerd at this point?

Katsuki shuddered at this. '_Damn nerds getting powerful. I got to get into training or the fucker's gonna leave me in the dust, and I will NOT tolerate that.' _he shook himself and tore his eyes from the weapons.

"Tch. whatever nerd. You may have your fancy-ass weapons and unlimited powers, but I'm still gonna kick your ass and become the #1 hero. You hear me?" izuku started laughing, Katsuki joining in after glaring at him for a moment.

"Of course Kachaan! But don't expect me to just lay down and roll over for you! I'm going to fight for the #1 spot as well!" Izuku stood tall, staring Katsuki right in the eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, before giving each other a small fist bump as they headed inside to study.

That silent agreement was enough for both of them. A promise to push each other. A promise to have the others back in any situation, no matter what. A promise to be a hero.

A promise to be the best.

* * *

He was standing in front of a beach that looked more like a junkyard, and he didn't know why.

All Might had asked him to come to the beach at an **UNGODLY** hour, and Izuku was too much of a fanboy to refuse.

Oh, yea, there was that whole successor thing he had going on with All Might, that was a reason to not refuse as well.

"So, uh, All Might? What exactly are we doing at this dump?" Izuku asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well Young Midoriya, after your demonstration of |One for All| the other day, I realised that while you have an impressive physique for a 14-year-old, you're still unable to use |One for All| without injury."

All Might inflated again and squashed a fridge. "That is what I aim to rectify! In part at least."

Izuku looked at his idol/new mentor. "And how will this trash heap help us do that?" He looked around to see if he was missing something. Nope. still a dump.

"Well my boy, you will be cleaning this beach!" All Might smiled at him, but it was different to his smile when dealing with villains. That smile was comforting. This smile was mischievous.

"We will be using this clean-up as an intensive training program to continue moulding your body to be a fit vessel of |One for All|."

Izuku didn't like the sound of an '_intensive workout'_ from the guy who could change the weather with his punches, but he guessed he didn't really have a choice.

He stopped time for a moment and ran up and down the beach, getting a feel for the junkyard.

He examined the coastline and knew that when he was done it would look amazing.

He went back to All Might and unfroze time. All Might seemed to notice the slight shift in his position and looked at Izuku, curious.

Izuku ignored the look and stood up straight, staring All Might right in the eyes, determination in his own. "Alright, then All Might, where do we start?"

All Might's smiled just widened. He knew Izuku was a good choice.

Now to start his training.

* * *

Dear god this whole thing was a mistake.

Izuku had been cleaning this god-forsaken beach for almost 6 months now, and while he was fit before, he had actually been very lean and thin, which complimented the fluid style of capoeira.

That meant that even though he was strong, his muscles would still **BURN** after his training sessions with All Might, although 6 months in, and he could see the benefits of the training program.

He was bigger than he had been, bulkier. Not body-builder levels, as they were usually unhealthy, water-filled muscles instead of usable muscle, but bigger.

He had spent these last 6 months lifting ungodly amounts of trash, and even though he wasn't religious, he found himself praying to any and all of the gods (whoever they were) for strength.

Now, he wasn't saying that he proved the D&D pantheons existed through prayer, but he was saying that he was somehow still going after 6 months of back-breaking, muscle building, stamina draining manual labour.

Honestly, religion was a touchy subject nowadays. People theorised that these spells had to come from somewhere right? If the spells worked on DnD rules, why **wouldn't** other things from DnD exist?

Most pre-spell religions were either so small that they were technically registered as cults or non-existent.

The crusades that were done in the first few decades of spells existing probably didn't help.

A power-crazy group, who had called (and still called themselves to this day) the Magic Liberation Army, who thought that their spells were '_divine gifts'_ and claimed to be '_higher beings'_.

Technically, they actually _were_ more "powerful" than a regular person back then, but spells were fairly new, and most people didn't have access to proper training.

Their '_crusade'_ against the '_lesser beings'_ did nothing but make people afraid of the spellcasters, leading to discrimination and fear from the public until they became the majority.

Izuku couldn't understand that fear. Sure, some spells were designed specifically to harm people, but for the most part, Spells were designed to help people.

Healing magic, Magic that could move rubble off of victims with a thought, magic that could transport people from one spot to another instantly.

It was probably just because he was born into a world where everyone had a spell (that he knew of, who can say for sure?), but he kind of pitied the spellcasters back then.

Looked down on, threatened, experimented on, made to feel bad about something they couldn't control.

Izuku redoubled his efforts as he dragged a bathtub up the stairs to All Might's truck. He would be the best hero he could be. People would never have to feel like that again.

Because he would be there.

* * *

He had just finished the day's training session and was currently sitting on the stairs to the beach, guzzling down water now that he had finished his workout and his cooldown stretches.

That was probably why he didn't notice some walking up to him until they sat down beside him with a huff and poked his shoulder.

"Well well well, I was wondering who had been cleaning up this dump. Guess it was you, huh Greenie?"

Izuku took another swig from his drink bottle, emptying it. He nodded to answer the person's question, looked over to the newcomer, and froze.

Sitting beside him, with a wide, confident smirk, was a girl. Her long, spiky black hair, bright blue eyes, and a school uniform that was just a _little_ too small made him realise something very quickly.

'_She's really pretty.'_

Izuku's mind had apparently decided that this would be an excellent time to betray him, and the girl's smirk grew wider. Izuku realised with horror that he had just muttered that out loud.

"Wow! How extremely forward of you Greenie! People usually wait to know me a bit better before they start attempting to woo me!"

Izuku nearly crashed again, instead, he started to sputter a bit as the girl just laughed at him. It took him a moment, but he eventually calmed down a bit.

"Don't worry greenie, I'm just messing with you! Name's Nemuri Kayama! But you can call me Nemuri. Now, who are you, mystery beach cleaner dude?"

Izuku calmed himself as much as he could. So he was talking to a pretty girl. Why was he like this? Was it because she was messing with him so much? Was it because he started the conversation with a foot in his mouth by muttering his thoughts?

Most of the girls at his previous schools and at Aldera specifically seemed more interested in his powerful Innate Spell than actually getting to know him. That upset him a bit, so he steered clear of them, for the most part.

That was probably it. He had little to no experience talking to girls. Or maybe he was just really bad at it. Now that he thought about it. The only girl he consistently talked to was his mum, and maybe Aunt Mitsuki.

Shit! The girl was talking to him, it's not the time to think about this stuff! The girl was giving him an odd look, waving a hand in front of his face.

"SORRY" he yelled suddenly, _way_ too loudly, startling the girl a bit. He held his hand out to her. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Nemuri's smirk turned into a normal smile as she shook his hand, and Izuku's brain just _**HAD**_ to notify him that it was a really pretty smile. He prayed to whatever gods existed that he hadn't muttered that thought out loud.

Apparently, the prayer worked, as Nemuri didn't seem to react as if he had.

"So Midoriya, why are you cleaning the beach all by yourself? Training for a hero course or something?"

Izuku smiled and nodded. "Got it in one. I'm aiming for UA's hero course, so I am working on my body, as I basically have my Innate Spell perfected."

Nemuri gave him a sceptical look, and he realised how much of an overconfident douche he sounded like.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I meant that I can use my Innate Spell whenever I want with no limit!"

That raised her eyebrows, and he could see the curiosity in her eyes. He sighed.

"My Innate Spell is called |Time Stop|. I'm currently the only person in history to use it. It took a while and a lot of training, but I'm able to call upon it whenever I want, meaning I can basically freeze and unfreeze time at will."

Nemuri gave him a look that showed how impressed she was.

"Midoriya that's fucking amazing! You're like a Time Controller dude or a Chronomancer or something!"

That was not what he was expecting her to say. '_Chronomancer… that would actually be a really good hero name!'_

"Nemuri, that's a really cool name! Hey, when I get into UA, would you mind if I used that as one of my hero name options?"

She shook her head, smiling. "Not at all, dude! I have no doubts that with a power like yours, you'll get into UA. We might even be classmates!"

Izuku smiled at her, and she smiled back. "That's awesome! You're applying for UA as well?"

Nemuri nodded. "Technically, yea, but I'll be taking the Recommendation exam. My Innate Spell is |Catnap|. It might be considered low-level, but my DC is ridiculously high. Haven't met anyone who could withstand it at this point, not even my aunt, and she's a Pro Hero."

Izuku was looking at her one moment, then there was a pink flash from her hands, and he fell to the ground. He woke up with a start and jolted upright.

"That's amazing Nemuri! I can imagine why you get a recommendation for that! The ability to put anyone to sleep instantly is super useful for hero work! It's amazing!"

Nemuri smiled and held her hand out for a fist bump, which he reciprocated. "Hell yeah, it is! But so are you dude! You've gotta know how amazing your Innate Spell is right?"

Izuku frowned inwardly at that. He didn't like it when people made assumptions just on the strength of this Innate Spell.

"Also, the dedication you're showing by cleaning a freaking trash dump of a beach just proves it further."

Izuku smiled at her. Most people would have stopped at the 'Powerful Innate Spell' argument. He was glad she didn't. His phone beeped, and he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, sorry to stop this chat short, but I have to be home in about 30 seconds, my mum will worry if I come home too late."

Nemuri laughed, before pulling a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket and writing something down on it. "You a bit of a mama's boy, eh? That's good to know."

She flashed him a smirk before she started laughing. "Here dude, have this. You're a pretty cool dude Midoriya, see you around."

She handed the piece of paper over before getting up and walking off, waving at him as she did.

Izuku froze time and started to jog home. The talk with Nemuri had been a good way to fill time while he rested his muscles, and she was actually pretty fun to talk to. He found himself hoping she was gonna be in his class at UA.

He arrived at his home steps and checked the piece of paper, nearly tripping over in shock as he saw what was on the card. It was a phone number with a message underneath;

'_Nemuri Kayama - Call me, Midoriya!'_

Izuku pocketed the piece of paper quickly. If his mum saw that, he would die under all the teasing she would direct his way.

* * *

He eventually did call Nemuri.

It was a few days after he met her, and he really didn't know what he was meant to do in this situation.

He put her number into his phone and added the new contact. He hit the 'call' button and took a deep breath as it dialled.

It took a moment for her to pick up, but when she did, it was loud. "MIDORIYA! Hi dude, took you long enough. Was I really that 'pretty' that it took you 3 days to work up the nerve?"

Izuku sputtered for a moment before he heard her laughing. He eventually started laughing with her.

"Chill dude, just messing with you. Although, what took you so long? Been 3 days my dude."

Izuku explained as best he could. "I have just been a bit busy Nemuri, sorry for not calling earlier."

"Nah, don't worry about it Greenie, better late than never! Now, I gave you my number for one specific reason. I wanna get to know you better!"

Izuku nodded, then realised she couldn't see him, so he spoke up. "It would be good to have a friend that's basically guaranteed to be at UA with me"

Nemuri seemed happy at this. "Exactly what I was thinking! OK, so, to get to know you better, how about we meet up on Saturday, that all good with you?"

Izuku looked over to the All Might calendar on his wall and didn't see anything on Saturday. "Yep! That's all for me! Meet at the beach, around 12:30?"

There was a few beeps coming from Nemuri's side, probably her checking something, then she replied. "Sure! See you then Greenie!"

As Izuku hung up the phone, he realised something that left him lying face down on the floor, face bright red.

Did he just plan a date?

* * *

Izuku was near the beach when he saw her.

She was about to cross the road but was looking down at her phone, tapping away. She stepped out onto the road just as a car came into his sight, unaware of it.

Izuku panicked for a second. If he didn't do anything, she was probably going to get run over. Mentally saying screw it to the Public Spell Use laws, he activated |Time Stop| and ran over to her.

She had just looked up from her phone, probably only just realising that there was a car coming her way. Her face showed fear, and he could see her legs tensed, ready to jump out of the way.

He picked her up, carefully avoiding grabbing anything inappropriate, and walked over to the other side of the road. As he got to the other side, he placed her down, standing on the sand, and started time up again.

She yelped and jumped to her right, not immediately recognising the sudden shift in position, and landed on her side in the sand.

The car shrieked as the driver put on the brakes, coming to an abrupt stop. A man came out of the car and ran down to the teenagers.

"Are you two all right? Are either of you injured?" The man said as he sprinted down to them, frantically checking them over.

Nemuri, who was still having a slight panic attack, didn't respond, so Izuku started using the basic first aid training he had received from Alexander.

Rubbing small circles into her back, he kept talking to her in a calm voice, repeating things like; "it's ok now, you're alright, you're fine now"

He looked up at the man who was talking to them and held up one finger, signalling him to wait for a moment.

The man nodded and sat down a few metres away from them, hands in his hair as he breathed deeply.

After a short while, Nemuri calmed down enough to realise what had happened. She looked, who was still rubbing her back, and talking to her, and smiled.

"H.. Hey there Greenie. Did you just save me?" Nemuri asked, still a _little_ shaky from the near-death experience, which was to be expected.

Izuku nodded at her, giving her a smile, like All Might did to the people he saved. He continued rubbing her back as he addressed both Nemuri and the man from the car.

"Yes, I did. I saw you walk out onto the road and not notice the car this man was driving. I used |Time Stop| to grab you out of the way. You were having a panic attack so I tried to calm you down."

He looked over to the man. "I have two things to say about this whole situation. One, watch the road in front of you man, this could have been avoided if you were looking up."

He turned back to Nemuri, who was looking at him with an odd expression. "Two, Don't walk out onto the road without checking both ways, got it Nemuri?"

She just nodded, odd expression still on her face. The man bowed to Izuku, thanking him for his actions, and he nodded back.

"As no one was hurt, It's probably alright for you to go now, we'll be staying here for a bit." The man nodded and sprinted back to his car, thanking Izuku for not going to the police with this.

Nemuri and Izuku just stayed sitting for a bit while Nemuri calmed down. Izuku didn't blame her. The car was only around 5-6 metres away from her when he grabbed her. If he was even a few seconds later she might have been injured, or worse.

After a while, Nemuri's breath stabilised, and Izuku stopped rubbing her back. She stood up and walked over to the staircase, where she sat down. Izuku followed her.

"Sorry about all that, if I was watching there wouldn't have been a problem, and you wouldn't have had to save me." Nemuri looked down.

"Nemuri, don't worry about it! I would do it again in a heartbeat, no questions asked." He smiled at her, and she got that odd look on her face again.

Sighing, she got up and dusted herself off. "Well then, Midoriya, now that… _that's_ all over, shall we get on with our plans?"

Izuku nodded and got up, dusting himself off as well. He hated sand, and his training with All Might only made his hate of it so much worse.

"Alright! Let's go!" Izuku smiled at her, and she smiled back, seemingly recovered from her panic attack. Izuku was still going to look out for her today though, panic attacks were usually serious.

Pushing that out of his mind, for now, he walked beside her as she talked about her aunt, the Pro Hero Chameleon.

Izuku smiled as they walked. He had a feeling that they were going to get along great.


	4. Chapter 4

The next six months went by extremely quickly.

Izuku continued his physical training at Dagoba beach, but this time, he had a workout buddy. Nemuri had been joining him during his training sessions.

They got along great and had become quick friends after that first day, Izuku eventually overcoming his awkwardness around her. At least, whenever she wasn't teasing him.

That was something he found out she **loved** doing. She loved to see him sputtering and looking away, or how much he looked like a tomato when his face went all red.

And in very rare moments, Izuku could summon up the confidence to give as good as he got, and it was Izuku's opinion that Nemuri blushing was the 8th wonder of the world.

Inko had instantly loved Nemuri when she had visited Izuku, practically dragging her inside the house and showering her with motherly affection.

Izuku had to use his Innate Spell just to hide the baby photos whenever Nemuri came over now. He almost failed one time, stopping time to see Nemuri literally about to put him to sleep, but so far, he has managed to keep his dignity.

And he had bulked up a bit during the 6 month time period. Where 100% had broken his arm before, all it did now were fractures and ruptured blood vessels. Still not good, but better.

But luckily for Izuku, he had figured out a way to not break himself. By limiting the power of the swing, All Might estimated that he was able to use about 12% for his slashes without hurting himself, and around 25% with the shield.

Going 100% with the shield might make Izuku nigh-untouchable (from that direction), but it took way to much out of him. With 25% he could protect himself from most attacks, and he could keep it up for a while.

Alex, oddly, became less and less of a presence in Izuku's life. After All Might had showed up, Alex had greeted the man as if he had already known about his secret, and then disappeared for an entire week, coming back with news that he would be around less.

Izuku was confused, to say the least, but accepted that Alex had to follow orders. It became a special occasion when Alex visited, which usually meant katsudon.

His life went like this for the 6 months in between meeting Nemuri and the entrance exam. All Might was around his house more often, Inko demanding to cook for the man so that he actually ate.

And then it passed. 6 months of his life, full of days messing around with Nemuri, training with All Might, chatting with Alex and sparring with Katsuki, were over.

And the next phase of his life began.

* * *

UA high school.

The best hero school in Japan, maybe even the world. Izuku and Nemuri stood at the front gate, Izuku looking at the building in awe, Nemuri laughing and pushing Izuku forward.

She wasn't even there to do the test. Her Aunt, the pro hero Chameleon, had let her come to the testing grounds. She had winked at Nemuri and told her to go "protect her property", whatever that meant.

They were about halfway to the stairs when Izuku's foot got caught on a loose tile. He yelped and started falling, before suddenly stopping, and moving into the air.

"Oh sorry! I hope you don't mind me using my spell on you! I just thought it would be bad luck to fall over on the day of the test!"

There was a small '_bing_' noise, and Izuku stopped floating, hitting the ground. Nemuri laughed as Izuku went from sitting down to standing up instantly.

She turned to the newcomer. She looked around 6ft tall, with shoulder-length brown hair and rosy cheeks. She had a smile that made Nemuri feel at ease.

Izuku was smiling at her. "Don't worry about it. I'd rather float for a bit than faceplant! Thank you!"

The new girl _beamed_ at the two of them. "Glad to hear it! We should probably get into the exam room now! Don't want to be late!"

As she ran off, Nemuri and Izuku laughed at the idea that Izuku _could_ be late. He just shrugged. "Can't expect people to know I have **|Time Stop|**, but we really should start heading in."

Nemuri nodded, then smirked, poking him in the shoulder. "You sure you wouldn't like to stare at the building a bit longer?"

Izuku stammered for second before pouting at her. And picking her up in a bridal carry. "Just for that, I'm going to take you to your seat myself."

It was Nemuri's turn to blush now, as Izuku picked her up, before she instantly appeared, sitting down, on her chair.

She pushed down the warm feeling in her chest that came from being that close to Izuku, and focused on the exam room. _It was huge!_

Her aunt had told her that UA got a lot of funding, but this was crazy! She looked around for a bit to find Izuku and spotted him sitting next to Katsuki, talking with the boy.

He spotted her looking, smiled at her, waving, so she waved back. Katsuki just looked over her way, rolled his eyes when he saw her and turned back to Izuku.

He must have said something, cause a few seconds later, Izuku was blushing, and focusing on the podium at the front of the room.

It was a good thing he did too, because as he looked over, the lights shut off, except for the spotlight on the stage.

"_**ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS!**_"

Nemuri glanced over at Izuku, who was, sure enough, gushing about Present Mic (until Katsuki smacked him). She smiled, turning back to the front.

"_**EVERYBODY SAY HEY!**_"

"HEY!" Nemuri burst out laughing at that point. Izuku was the _only_ person to give Present Mic a response.

"_**AT LEAST WE GOT ONE PERSON WHO'S PUMPED! NOW, HOW ABOUT I TELL YOU ALL HOW THIS EXAM IS GONNA GO DOWN…**_"

* * *

Izuku had just placed Nemuri down in her chair and had gotten to his own seat.

Katsuki glanced over at him and made a 'tch' noise. "Finally, thought your dumb ass would miss the fucking exam."

Izuku stuck his tongue out at him. "And I thought they would kick you out for scaring the other examinees."

Katsuki just laughed. "They should be afraid of me. I'll burn all of them and become #1! Even above you, Izuku."

Izuku just smiled, punching him lightly on his shoulder, as he laughed under his breath. Izuku then noticed Nemuri looking over at them and smiled at her, waving.

Katsuki followed Izuku's wave and saw Nemuri sitting, waving back. "Dear God, what is Chloroform doing here?"

Izuku just shrugged. "She's not participating, her aunt just let her come along to watch."

Katsuki just humphed. "Damn, thought I might get the chance to show your girlfriend who's the boss."

Izuku just sputtered for a moment. "SHE'S-" He was cut off by a stare from people around him. "_She's not my girlfriend! Nemuri's just a friend!"_

Katsuki just put his feet up on the chair in front of him and shrugged. "Could have fooled me. Now focus on the test dumbass, I'm gonna beat you when you're at your best, so bring it on."

Izuku then saw Present Mic come out and started gushing about him. Katsuki smacked him over the head, shutting him up, and the exam started for real…

* * *

_How the fuck did UA get the funding for this shit?_

That was Katsuki's first thought when he saw the giant replica city that was exam site A. It was huge.

It was literally a copy of around 10 city blocks, and soon Katsuki would get to blast a bunch of robots while securing the spot he deserves at the best hero school out there.

'_Whatever_'. That didn't matter right now. All that mattered was the exam. The opportunity he would get to show the extras here who was the best.

He stepped off the bus and started stretching. He may not have some bullshit powerup like Izuku had to use his Spell whenever he wanted, but he didn't need it.

He could use his powers enough times a day to be the best.

Every day of Katsuki's life was dedicated to showing the world why he was the best. That meant training, sparring, doing anything he needed to make himself the best.

If he let these extras ahead of him, what would that prove? That he was a weakling? '_I don't fucking think so!_'

Shaking his arms and legs he waited for Present Mic to start screaming the countdown. Although, he guessed that they would pull some bullshit on all of them by making them start immediately or some shit, so prepared for that as well.

He looked around. No-one stood out to him. None had the same feeling of power that came from Izuku in waves, and none of them had the look of determination on their face that Katsuki was known for.

He huffed. None of these extra's even deserved to be in the same exam are as him, not if they weren't going to give their all.

At least that was what he would have thought if he didn't spot the red-head off to the side, arms made of stone, punching the wall lightly while squatting.

He smiled. Ok, there might be _one_ other person here _really_ ready to give it their all.

"**ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS!"**

* * *

Izuku shook himself as he got ready for the exam.

All Might's record for points was 147, and his goal was to get over that by at least 5 points.

He could probably single-handedly take out every robot in the blink of an eye (to other people), but that would make everyone else in his group fail.

So he would get to at least 152 and then stop. Hopefully, once he started, they would know that he was the one to kill the robots and give him the points. They should know it was him, right?

Not like anyone else could eliminate that many robots in an instant.

He quickly summoned and unsummoned his sword and shield. He may not have to use them at their fullest during this exam, but it was still good to stretch out the connections, just in case.

"**ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS!"**

Everyone looked up to where Present Mic was standing, his voice echoing over to all of the exam sites.

"**START!"**

People seemed to be confused, and it jolted Izuku a little bit. He saw Present Mic going to say more, so he waited. He would get their first either way.

"**CMON THEN! THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL LIFE, GO GO GO!"**

Izuku smiled nodded and clicked his fingers (for dramatic effect) and froze time. He walked around all of the people in the doorway, making sure not to move anyone.

Most people weren't used to the sudden jolt they got when he moved them during Frozen Time. So, without bumping into anyone, he walked into the exam area, looking for robots.

He walked all the way over to the other edge of the area. He wanted there to be robots for others to kill when he was done.

He pulled out a special notebook he had brought to catalogue other people's spells and how they used them, he smacked robots with his sword at around 6%. He didn't need any more than that to cleanly chop through them, and he wanted to save his energy.

'_One-Pointer, One-Pointer, Three-Pointer, Two-Pointer, another One-Pointer'_. He marked down how many he had "killed" with tallies under the title's 1,2,3.

He did this for a few more minutes as he counted up until he reached 150. This was it. Izuku was 2 points of beating All Might's record, and getting into UA for sure!

He ran around a corner and saw his target. A lone 3 pointer, ripe for the cutting. Running over to it, he summoned the sword part of **|One for All|** at his current maximum, 12% and swiped at it.

He then smiled, and unsummoned his sword. Letting go of his hold on time, he walked around the field, watching people at work.

There was a blonde boy who was shooting a laser at a 2 pointer. Izuku didn't know why it was coming from his stomach, but he recognised it as a **|Sunbeam|**.

Stopping time while it shot towards the robot, he placed his hand in it, feeling the warmth of the beam. He wrote down some notes and continued on.

There was a blue-haired boy sprinting around the field, seemingly being thrown forward by every step. Izuku's couldn't tell if it was something like **|Haste|**, or maybe **|Catapult|** even?

He wrote down a few guesses and moved onto the next examinee.

The tall brown haired girl that saved him from falling! _(He was willingly forgetting the fact that he fell from an even higher height because of that)_ He already had a few guesses about her Quirk, but it was always good to watch.

He watched as she smacked a Two-Pointer, and it rose into the air quickly. She did this to a few other robots, and they fell upwards. Izuku figured out her spell at that moment. **|Reverse Gravity|**.

That was a pretty high-level spell! And she was using it really well. She smacked her hands together, and the robots started falling back down.

Izuku was just going to watch them crash into the ground when he saw a boy out of the corner of his eye and froze time on instinct.

It was lucky he did, as the boy was right under one of the robots that the girl had let go off. He quickly moved the boy out of the way and unfroze time.

The boy gasped in surprise. "What the hell just-" Izuku placed his hand over the boy's mouth, cutting him off.

He pointed to the robot that had just crashed into the ground where the boy had been. "I just saved you from being crushed, now get back out there!"

* * *

In the control room, Nezu was having a lot of fun.

The test had only been going on for about 6 minutes at this point, and one examinee already had over 150 points! 6 minutes in, and someone had beaten All Might, the Symbol of Peace's record!

Nezu had known exactly who it was, too. Izuku Midoriya, the boy with **|Time Stop|**. Nezu also knew that this was the boy that All Might had given his secret power, **|One for All|**, too.

And so Nezu, the small were-something that he was, had followed Izuku's movements as best he could, as the boy blinked in and out of different monitors.

Nezu had laughed maniacally when Izuku first stopped time, and when he came out of it, over 80 robots were destroyed. He had gotten the usual worried glances but brushed them off.

He was having too much fun to care about being stared at. Izuku Midoriya was popping in and out of time, saving people left and right. If Nezu's calculations were right, and to be fair, when were they wrong, If Izuku kept this up, he would get over 200 points.

Nezu was already signing Izuku's acceptance papers, much to the amusement of Chameleon, who was sitting next to him, and the happiness of Miss Kayama, who was sitting next to her.

"So Nezu, you got your eye on Midoriya as well? He's quite impressive isn't he?" Chameleon said, elbowing Nemuri and smirking.

Nezu just nodded and smiled back. "Oh yes, Miss Tokage. Mr Midoriya is _quite_ the fighter. _I look forward to meeting him soon enough_."

Chameleon shuddered and turned to Nemuri. Nezu overheard her saying; '_this is a mistake, you should go to Shiketsu for your own safety!' _and laughed.

As the timer came to a certain number, the button in front of Nezu turned on. He leaned over and poked Nemuri. "Care to do the honours, Young Kayama?"

Nemuri looked concerned, but Chameleon just smiled and shrugged. Nemuri gave a shaky smile back and smacked the button.

The rumbling started, just loud enough to hide Nezu's joy-filled cackling.

* * *

**Katsuki was having the time of his life.**

'_Whoever thought up this exam is my new favourite person,'_ he thought as he blew up another group of robots. He didn't know how many points he was on, but it didn't matter!

It was definitely going to be more points than anyone of these damn extra's got!

_(Except Izuku)_

Growling, he shrugged off the intrusive thought and charged at another group of robots.

_(His points were probably in the hundreds by the time you entered the field)_

Roaring, he jumped in the middle of the group and set off a giant fireball right at his feet. The robots around him roasted, and he used the propulsion from the blast to get up on a roof.

_(He's more powerful than you could ever hope to be, and he'll only be getting stronger)_

That's when the rumbling started. The screaming as people ran back towards the start gate. Katsuki smirked and ran the opposite way, towards what the extras were running from.

Whatever they were afraid of, he could beat, so he rounded the corner and stopped as he saw the Zero-Pointer.

He laughed to himself. So what if it was bigger than they implied it would be? He could fry this and show once and for all that he was better than Izuku.

_(Whatever you do, he's going to one-up you again)_

He smacked himself, sending the thoughts away. They had been plaguing him ever since Izuku got that damn power-up. Izuku wouldn't even tell him how he did it!

Not that he would do it if he knew.

_(You know that if you ever want to be as strong as Izuku you need to figure out how he powered up, and do it yourself)_

"**NO!** I can beat that damn nerd with my own power! I don't need some shitty boost!" he yelled to himself as he ran towards the Zero-Pointer.

_(That's not true, and you know it)_

If you asked Katsuki later in life why he was running towards a building sized-robot, fireballs in each hand, crying and screaming swear words, he would punch you for saying he was crying.

But he would also tell you that at that moment, he didn't see a robot used in an exam, he saw a villain with a size spell rampaging through a town, and he was there to stop it. He saw an enemy that would allow him to properly prove himself.

He jumped off the side of the building, blasting towards the Zero-Pointer with dual fireballs from his palms. He could tell that he was almost done, it was getting harder and harder to use **|Fireball|** each time he used it.

It was getting in his range. Katsuki smirked, throwing all doubts about his strength out of his mind. He was strong. Strong enough to destroy this robot and more. He knew that.

_(Yet you're not the strongest)_

_**Now**_. As the head of the Zero-Pointer entered the range of his spell, he pulled on it as hard as he could. The fireball grew in size around the Zero-Pointer, getting brighter and brighter.

He could hear people yelling below him and smiled. The extra's would get to see who was the strongest person here.

_(It's not you, you'll have to accept that at some point)_

He snarled and focused on pushing more power into the raging inferno around the Zero-Pointer. He laughed as he felt the spell about to slip from him, and let it, allowing the fireball the explode.

The explosion it created would be talked about for weeks to come and became a legend passed down through classes at UA.

* * *

Izuku was grateful for **|Time Stop|**.

He always had been, and always would be. The versatility that it gave him as a fighter, and one day as a Hero was incredible. Add on the boost that **|One for All|** gave him, and Izuku had no doubts that he could one day rival the likes of All Might. He had told Izuku that he would surpass him, after all, and Izuku trusted All Might.

But as he grabbed the brown-haired girl that saved him out the front of UA from out of the way of some rubble, set her down near the entrance gate, started time again and helped her calm down, he really thanked the gods for his Innate Spell.

"Hey, it's alright now, I got you, your OK now, just breathe with me ok?" he said, rubbing circles into her back and breathing deeply. It seemed like he was always the one to calm people down from panic attacks.

The girl followed his breathing, visibly getting calmer as time went on. She opened her mouth to speak, but before any words came out, a buzzer went off.

"_**AND THAT'S TIME FOLKS! THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY! HEAD BACK TO THE BUSES SO WE CAN GET YOU ALL HOME!"**_

He looked back down at her. "Do you need help standing up or walking?" When she responded by shaking her head, he smiled and helped her up.

"Glad you're alright! Can't have my saviour getting smushed by some big robot can I?" he laughed, and she giggled with him. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, it's nice to meet you."

"Ochako Uraraka, right back at you. Say, what is your spell? **|Teleport|**, maybe? We did just suddenly appear at the gates." She asked, cocking her head to the side.

Izuku just laughed. "Might as well tell you, I have no doubt you'll be my classmate!" She blushed and mumbled something about '_not having the results yet'_ but Izuku continued. "My Innate Spell is **|Time Stop|**, it allows me to freeze time for anyone but myself!"

Izuku must have been around people that already knew his spell too much because he had forgotten how funny it was seeing people's reactions to it. Uraraka was staring at him, mouth open in shock.

"WHAT!? That's so freaking cool, Midoriya! Mine is just **|Reverse Gravity|**, It just makes things fall upwards. You can stop time!" She said, visibly shaking as she stopped herself from yelling it out.

Izuku just shrugged. "I had guessed you spell already, but you really shouldn't be too hard on yourself about it! **|Reverse Gravity|** is an incredible spell! Hey!-" he nudged her shoulder as they boarded the bus.

"We can both manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe, that makes us really freaking cool!" Uraraka must not be used to compliments, because she blushed and nodded, smiling.

They chatted for a little bit on the bus, but like most other people, were resting and regaining stamina. Izuku smiled happily at his results. He was sure Katsuki would get in as well. With his drive and power, he was a shoo-in for the hero course.

Izuku couldn't wait to be at UA with Katsuki and Nemuri. And if everyone was as nice as Ochako, who he was sure got in, then he had a feeling he would love it here.

In hindsight, saying things like that was basically _inviting_ bad things to happen.


	5. Chapter 5

"OH MY BABY YOU DID SO WELL!"

Izuku just laughed as he was absolutely crushed in a hug by his mother upon returning to his house. She had demanded a play-by-play of his exam, and he had been more than willing to share.

He had explained how many points he had gotten, the different types of robots they had to fight, all of the cool spells people had, and the exciting ways that they used them.

Inko listened intently to the whole rant, smiling and adding her thoughts every now and then. Izuku was smiling the whole way through his rant; it felt good to be able to spend time with his mum and talk like this.

Eventually, the conversation shifted over into how they were going to prepare for Izuku to shift his schedule around UA's hours. It was an important school, and some of Izuku's commitments would clash with a few of their classes, so they would have to be either cut from his schedule, or moved to another time.

That was how Izuku spent the night of the entrance exam. Talking with Inko, helping her cook dinner, which was Katsudon, of course, for both of them, and then watching an All Might movie until bedtime.

He knew that he had gotten into UA, with a score higher than All Might's, they would be crazy to deny him a spot. He couldn't wait to be able to study underneath proper heroes and eventually become one himself! He had been dreaming of this since he could understand what a hero _was!_

He stopped time while he cleaned up his room quickly, before dropping onto his bed and allowing himself to nod off to sleep.

The future was looking good in his eyes.

* * *

Bakugou had not been looking forward to getting his results.

He had spent the 2 weeks since the exam training his absolute hardest, completely ghosting Izuku in favor of training on his own. He had even been messaged a few times by Chloroform asking if he was OK, but he didn't respond.

He knew today was going to be terrible. The results from UA's entrance exam came out today, which meant that all he had to look forward to after his gym session was undeniable proof that Izuku was stronger than him.

His hand closed tighter around the dumbbell bar as he shook his head. Placing another weight on each end of the bar, he laid back down and continued pumping the bar up and down, a low growl escaping him.

He didn't need to see Izuku's name at the top of the list, probably with at least All Might's score. Just because the nerd was born with the most broken spell possible, and got some bullshit boost in power.

He put the dumbbell back in its place and stood up, stretching his arms as he paced back and forth. He was practically at his body's limit at this point, as he had been working out for a while now to keep his mind off the results.

Every time he thought about getting the results from the test back and seeing fucking Izuku Midoriya at the top, his body was filled with rage. It took everything in his power to not just fucking nuke his surroundings with fireballs to vent.

_The other people that had been in the gym seemed to understand that, as they had vacated the area, leaving Katsuki alone with his thoughts._

He growled as he stomped towards the lockers, grabbing out his belongings. He glanced out of the window and saw that the sky had gotten dark. Pulling on the thin jacket he used to stay warm after training, he exited the gym, tapping his membership card on the way out.

He stuffed his hands in his pocket as he walked the short distance back to his house, taking deep breaths. He had to mentally prepare himself for the results. The hag would kill him if he burned down another wall of the house.

At the very least, he knew that he was going to be second on the list. There was no-one stronger than him when it came to control and raw power! Izuku can use his bullshit gimmick to fight all he wants, but its true strength that matters!

_(Right?)_

* * *

Nemuri was really excited.

She and Izuku had spent a lot of time together after the day of the exam, celebrating Izuku's guaranteed acceptance, and Nemuri's own success. She was also almost certain that she was going to get in.

She wasn't going to tell him that she had seen Nezu accepting him already, but she had no issue with _graciously allowing him to take her to the movies_ to celebrate his performance in his exam.

She still couldn't believe that she had asked him to the movies like that. This was practically a date! Did he want it to be a date? She wanted it to be a date! She was very honest with herself and knew that she liked Izuku.

She had first realized it a few weeks before the entrance exam and had been stressing over it since then. She knew that he liked being around her, at least as a friend, and she was fairly certain he was at least a little bit attracted to her.

She had spent a long time studying psychology and the ways people showed affection, all part of her training for her personal brand as a hero. She didn't like to tell people, but the more skin that her target could see, the more likely they were to fall to her spell.

She had tried to prepare herself and get into the right mindset to be able to reveal a bit more skin than usual during hero work, which had been a slippery slope in psychology and the ways that she could use her need for exposed skin to her advantage.

And her delve into psychology told her that Izuku was, at the very least, attracted to her physically.

Standing outside of the movie theater waiting for Izuku was one of the most nerve-racking things Nemuri had ever done. Did Izuku realize this was basically a date? Was he as into her as she was into him?

She had chosen a moderately casual outfit for today, not wanting to scare him off with something too fancy, or make him doubt himself with something too casual. Still, she thought that her outfit was pretty good.

She had gone with a maroon t-shirt, a pair of black jeans, and a flannel shirt tied around her waist. Her brown boots had a small heel, enough to give a little lift, but not enough to be too uncomfortable.

All in all, she felt really cute. She hoped Izuku would agree. She pulled out her phone, tapping away at an inane clicker game, (she would become the best cookie maker in the world, damnit!), while she waited for Izuku to arrive.

What was taking him so long? He could literally stop time! How the hell was he late!?

'_He's probably gotten himself in some sort of trouble again…'_

* * *

'_Fuck! I'm late! I'm never late! She's gonna think I ditched her! All because of this idiot!'_

Izuku swore to himself as he looked at the crowd around him, all of them looking concerned, attempting to activate their spells. He scanned the area to see who had the anti-magic field up.

He had been passing through a small intersection with time frozen on his way to meet Nemuri, and had let time resume when he saw two cats playing with each other on the street, wanting to see them play-fighting.

That was when he heard it.

**-BANG BANG BANG-**

Three loud gunshots had gone off a few streets to his right, and Izuku found himself moving there as Quickly as he could, time frozen again as he ran. He turned a corner and yelped when colour returned to the world without him saying so.

'_Shit! Someone must be using an anti-magic field! Was it the gunman? Or a civilian?' _Izuku hummed as he scanned the people around him, trying to see if anyone was giving off any energy.

He froze as he saw the gunman, who was glowing with purple light. The gunman had a mask over his face and was waving a rifle around, yelling at people to drop to the ground. Izuku made his way to the front of the crowd subtly, making sure to be on his knees whenever the gunman turned to him.

He didn't know why, but even though **|Time Stop|** had been cut off from him, he could still feel the power of **|One for All|** humming under his skin. Did that mean that it wasn't magic? If the power wasn't magic, what was is?

'_Whatever, a question for another time. If it's available to me even when my spell isn't I'll just use it to protect these people!'_

He stood up as the gunman faced him, staring the man down, holding his arm out in front of him. "Hey! Put the gun down!"

He tensed as the gunman raised his rifle at him, glaring at Izuku. "Who the fuck do you think you are, ordering me around kid? How about you drop to the ground before you drop dead!"

Izuku hummed as he pulled on **|One for All's|** power, glowing brightly as the sword and shield manifested on his arms. "I warned you to put the gun down!"

He enjoyed the gunman's look of surprise and fear as the weapons appeared on Izuku's arms, before there was another **-BANG-** as the gunman shot him. It was absorbed by the shield, but as Izuku was using the shield at 100%, he felt sharp pain in that arm, the drawback of using more than he was capable of.

He couldn't get shot like that again.

"You're keeping me from my friend! I promised her I'd meet her soon, and now you've gone and made me late! Take _THIS!_"

He rushed forward, slashing down with the sword of **|One for All|** at 12%, his safe maximum. There was a rush of air that buffeted the clothes and hair of the bystanders as it passed through the guman's rifle like a hot knife through butter.

Now disarmed and distracted, Izuku let the sword and shield dissipate, before pulling his uninjured arm back and slamming it forward into the mans face, throwing him backwards, onto his ass.

"Who the fuck are you? You're just a fucking kid? How can you overcome my Anti-magic field?!"

Izuku smirked as the man stared up at him with large amounts of fear in his eyes. He thrust his thumb at himself, smiling proudly at the man. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, future pro hero! You thought you would be the victor of this fight, but it was me, Izuku!"

It was then that he felt **|Time Stop| **return to him, the man's **|Anti-Magic Field|** dissipating from overuse. Izuku sighed as he stopped time, before moving to the man and trying his hands up with some zip-ties from a nearby storefront.

He then let time return to its normal flow and heard the approaching sirens of police cars and ambulances. Swearing to himself, he went to move his arm again and yelped when it twinged in pain.

'_Ah shit, I forgot about that'_

He pulled out his phone as he sat down on the pavement, ignoring the cheers from the people around him as he texted Nemuri an apology for not being there. She was understandably not happy, even less so when he told her why.

As a paramedic rushed to his side and gave him a check-up, he found himself feeling more afraid of what Nemuri would do to him than he had been about the gunman.

He hoped that she would at least go easy on him because he was helping people.

* * *

"**YOU ABSOLUTE FREAKING IDIOT!"**

Nemuri's face was completely red as she yelled at him. It had been almost 5 minutes since she had arrived at the hospital Izuku had been taken to for healing, and not once had she stopped in her lecture.

"You are seriously going to be the death of me one day, Izuku! You can't just run into every villain fight there is and expect to come out unscathed! What if your shield hadn't worked as well as it did? He had a gun!"

Izuku raised his hands, trying to placate her. "I'm sorry ok! I was working on instinct! I felt that I was able to help when no-one else could and my body just moved on its own!"

She huffed, crossing her arms and pouting, unconsciously pushing her breasts up, making them even more prominent in the tight shirt she was wearing. Not that Izuku was focusing on that right now, no sir.

"I swear, you're more heroic than you are smart sometimes. How about you promise me this; you won't be stupid and run into any more villain attacks like that until you get your provisional license!"

Izuku just blinked. He _wanted_ to promise her that, but would he be able to keep it? He did have a habit of getting involved when he shouldn't, or didn't have to. But didn't All Might say that was a good thing for a hero at some point?

"I can't promise you that, Nemuri, but I can promise you that I'll be much more careful next time, alright? I'm not going anywhere."

She hummed, adjusting the bright red glasses on her face. "I suppose that's better than I expected. And you better not go anywhere anytime soon, alright? I like you too much to have you just go and die on me."

She froze as soon as she said that, glancing at Izuku with a blush on her face, hoping that he didn't read too far into that. Unfortunately for her, her luck had seemed to run out. Izuku was looking at her and blushing slightly, a sheepish smile on his face.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I like _you_ too much to just up and leave. I hadn't planned on telling you like this, but hey, no better time than the present right?"

They stared at each other for a moment longer, before jumping in shock at a cough in the doorway. They whipped around to see Inko standing there with a smirk on her face, Bakugou leaning on the doorway behind her, looking away from them.

Inko chuckled as both of them flushed completely red, a smile on her face. "Jesus Izuku! It took you long enough! I was wondering how long it was going to take you two to confess!"

The two teens sputtered and waved their arms, blushing fully red and very intentionally not looking at each other. Inko just smiled and waved at the two of them, dragging Bakugou out of the room, who gave them a brief nod of acknowledgement, the equivalent of a hug for the boy.

It took Izuku and Nemuri a moment to calm down, and even longer before either of them had the courage to start talking again. Nemuri eventually just giggled and spoke. "We should probably talk, right? That's what all the movies say we should do at this point."

Izuku just looked up at her and smiled, nodding.

"Yea, let's talk."


End file.
